Premier Foods sales hit by early Easter

23rd Jul 2015 12:12

(ShareCast News) - Premier Foods said the business environment remained challenging as it posted a drop in sales for the 13 weeks ended 4 July.The company, which owns the Mr Kipling and Bisto brands, posted sales of £166.2m, with branded sales down 1.4% and total group sales 1.6% lower than last year.It said the slightly lower branded sales performance in the quarter was affected by the timing of Easter this year, which impacted both the Cake and Flavourings & Seasonings categories. This Easter effect is equivalent to approximately 1.5% of branded sales, and taking this into account, branded sales would have otherwise delivered a broadly flat result in the quarter, it said.Aside from this effect, Premier said the Sweet Treats business continued to enjoy the benefits of renewed focus and marketing investment, delivering both volume and value share growth and is expected to benefit from new product launches over the coming months.In the Grocery business, Bisto and Oxo sales performed well, while Lloyd Grossman sales were held back due to re-phasing of the company's annual promotional plan.Chief executive officer Gavin Darby said: "We are encouraged by the continued good volume and value response of our brands in those areas where we have focused our investment, although Branded sales in the quarter were impacted by the earlier timing of Easter. While the business environment remains challenging, our expectations for the year, including a significant reduction in net debt, remain unchanged."At 11:28, shares were down 0.4% at 42.31p.